Equity management platform Qapita secures US$5m in pre-Series A funding led by MassMutual Ventures
SINGAPORE-BASED Qapita, a fintech startup that provides software to manage a company's equity, has raised US$5 million in a pre-Series A round led by MassMutual Ventures.
Other investors include India-based venture capital firm Endiya Partners. Several angel investors such as Anjali Bansal, the founder of India-based venture capital firm Avaana Capital, and Sujeet Kumar, the co-founder of India e-commerce platform Udaan, also joined the round.
The fresh funds will be used to add engineering talent, accelerate product development and build clientele in India, Indonesia and Singapore, said the startup.
Founded in 2019, Qapita was founded with the aim of reducing the inefficiencies in private-market ownership and transactions. It hopes to help private companies and startups manage capitalisation tables and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). It also aims to digitise the issuance of equity awards and shares.
Over the last six months, "more than a hundred startups have agreed to manage their equity ownership on Qapita", said chief operating officer and co-founder Lakshman Gupta. He added that the startup is looking to partner various service providers, including law, accounting and company secretarial firms.
Wealth creation happens substantially through equity in the startup ecosystem, said Ravi Ravulaparthi, chief executive and co-founder of Qapita. "Through our cap table, ESOP and liquidity solutions, we want to enable founders not only to offer equity to more stakeholders (including employees) but also provide faster liquidity."
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The new injection follows a US$1.8 million seed round led by Vulcan Capital last September, and an undisclosed strategic investment from East Ventures in February. In the seed round, Vulcan was joined by investors such as Koh Boon Hwee, the Kuok family office K3 Ventures, as well as partners of the NorthStar Group. Since then, Qapita has expanded its team to more than 30 people today. Spread across India and South-east Asia, the team has hired from industries such as investment banking, venture capital and ESOP management.
Anvesh Ramineni, managing director at MassMutual Ventures, said: "Globally, we are witnessing trends that indicate a convergence between public and private markets... We believe the team has the right combination of experience, understanding of regional markets and product expertise to deliver on their vision."
Equity management SaaS (software-as-a-service) solutions will provide the "much needed digital equity stack for startups in Indonesia and the wider South-east Asian region", said Willson Cuaca, co-founder and managing partner of East Ventures. Mr Cuaca will join Qapita's board following this pre-Series A investment.
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